Kick boring workouts to the curb.
If you know me, you know I am not a dancer. I’m the one at parties that occasionally pumps my fist in the air while the rest of my body remains stationary. Dancing was never something that was natural nor very fun for me if I’m being brutally honest. So, when a few friends in a group chat asked who wanted to try a hip hop fitness class at UF’s Student Rec, I chose to step out of my comfort zone and agree to their plan, letting my fingers fly across the keyboard in response before I could think about turning them down. After all, it would be their first time taking this hip hop fitness course too, so we would be jumping into the deep end together.
The four of us walked into Student Rec that fateful Friday at 5:00 p.m., not exactly knowing what we were getting ourselves into. (My only reference to hip hop was the movie “Step Up” with Channing Tatum, which I had watched for the first time this past summer.) After finding the correct room and stuffing our bags into cubbies, the young instructor, Michelle, introduced herself to the group of about 30 other students and promised that this will be better than simply running for exercise. As the first song connected to the studio’s speakers and Michelle taught us the few moves needed, we quickly picked up that many of her dances contained twerking. And what activity had we just walked over from an hour earlier that made the whole thing much more ironic? Bible Study.
Although that first session had many awkward moments, I found it was a much more fun way to exercise compared to going to the gym alone and staring at the complicated machinery in confusion. It was neat to have someone to follow along with and not care whether your form was perfect or amateur. Since then, I’ve gone with the same girls two more times to hip hop fitness classes. Though we laugh off the twerking bits, it’s interesting to be in an environment where that’s not essentially taboo. It’s also comforting to know it’s not about impressing anyone in the studio. It’s simply a way to get your body moving and a safe space to do so with friends!
Origins of Hip Hop Fitness
Everything has to start somewhere, and hip hop dancing specifically has its roots in ‘70s African-American culture, according to the article on RealBuzz.com. With a lot of emotion and improvisation, dancing styles included in hip hop are breakdancing (which came out of New York’s hip hop era) and house dancing (containing complex foot movements and some torso action). Around that same time in 1968, group fitness was introduced as a way to prevent disease by Dr. Kenneth H. Cooper, the “Father of the Modern Fitness Movement,” the American College of Sports Medicine tells us. With these two emerging within a few years of each other, hip hop fitness was born and evolved into the modern style we know today.
The fitness aspect of hip hop is easy to notice once you see how it is performed. Acting like a cross-training routine with cardio, hip hop fitness can build stamina, get your heart pumping and burn calories. This improves cardiovascular health and works your mind as well as your body when you’re following along with the instructor.
How You Can Get Involved
If this is making you want to try hip hop fitness, you’re in luck! Most college campuses offer similar programs at their respective student centers. For example, at the University of Florida, one can find the UF RecSports class schedule on its website. All you need to enter is your student ID! Between a plethora of other workout classes you can join, hip hop fitness is usually offered at different times Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays at Southwest Recreation Center and Mondays through Fridays at select times at the Student Recreation and Fitness Center. I recommend Michelle’s sessions on Friday afternoons (feel free to follow her Instagram account @michelle_hiphoplit). Her classes are the only ones I’ve been to, so I might be a little biased, but she is so energetic when teaching the workouts. She also asks the people taking the class if they have specific routines they want to do, making you want to come back next time to be able to recommend your favorites. Before each song, Michelle suggests moves that are a little less demanding for beginners, which is always appreciated.
“Dance like nobody’s watching,” the cliché goes. The great thing about this class is that the only one that is being watched like a hawk is the instructor; everyone is just focusing on themselves and trying to imitate the moves to the best of their ability. It didn’t matter that we were beginners and that there were seasoned dancers working out with us. Everyone was there for the same reason in the end: to have fun and get a good workout in! Dancing might not be my favorite activity in the world, but when a time to bond with friends and work out in a way that doesn’t feel like exercising are thrown into the mix, who wouldn’t enjoy it?